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Pretty Ballerina
"Pretty Ballerina" is a song written by pianist Michael Brown that was released as a single by his band The Left Banke in December 1966. It peaked at number 15 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and number 4 on the Canadian '' RPM'' chart. Composition "Pretty Ballerina" was one of the first pop songs to use the Lydian mode in its melody (more specifically the acoustic scale), predating the Beatles' Indian-inspired " Blue Jay Way" and Donovan's "Peregrine". The recording features an oboe over the instrumental portion of the track, joining the string quartet, before the music pauses, and goes back to the refrain of the song. The original Left Banke version of the song was sung by Steve Martin Caro and it is one of several songs that Brown wrote about singer Renee Fladen, the girlfriend of Left Banke guitarist Tom Finn and the object of Brown's affections. Other songs written about her include the band's biggest hit, " Walk Away Renée", and "She May Call You Up Tonight". C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Left Banke
The Left Banke was an American baroque pop band, formed in New York City in 1965. They are best remembered for their two U.S. hit singles, "Walk Away Renée" and "Pretty Ballerina". The band often used what the Music journalism, music press referred to as "Baroque music, baroque" string arrangements, which led to their music being variously termed as "Johann Sebastian Bach, Bach-rock", "baroque rock" or "baroque pop". The band's vocal harmonies borrowed from contemporaries such as the Beatles, the Zombies and other British Invasion groups. In 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' placed "Walk Away Renée" at number 220 in its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". History 1965–69: early years and disbandment The Left Banke was formed in 1965 and consisted of keyboard player/songwriter Michael Brown (rock musician), Michael Brown, drummer/singer George Cameron, bass guitarist/singer Tom Finn (singer), Tom Finn, singer Steve Martin (later known as Steve Martin Caro), and drummer Lisa (t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band in Western popular music and were integral to the development of Counterculture of the 1960s, 1960s counterculture and the recognition of popular music as an art form. Rooted in skiffle, beat music, beat and 1950s rock and roll, rock 'n' roll, their sound incorporated elements of classical music and traditional pop in innovative ways. The band also explored music styles ranging from Folk music, folk and Music of India, Indian music to Psychedelic music, psychedelia and hard rock. As Recording practices of the Beatles, pioneers in recording, songwriting and artistic presentation, the Beatles revolutionised many aspects of the music industry and were often publicised as leaders of the Baby boomers, era's youth and soc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Kingsbery
Peter Kingsbery (born December 2, 1952) is an American singer-songwriter who co-founded the band Cock Robin in the 1980s. He grew up in Austin (Texas) where he studied classical music. He moved to Nashville (Tennessee) where he began his career as a musician (he accompanied Brenda Lee on piano on a few tours) and then to Los Angeles at the end of the '70s where he began a career as a singer-songwriter. He composed a few songs for Smokey Robinson, and one of his compositions, ''Pilot Error'', sung by Stephanie Mills, had some success in the dance charts in 1983. At the beginning of the 80s, he founded the group Cock Robin with Anna LaCazio, Clive Wright and Lou Molino III which enjoyed great success in Western Europe mainly. Failing to break their native country with a first self-titled album in 1985, the quartet became a duo of Kingsbery and LaCazio when they released their second album in 1987. After the band split up in the early 1990s after their third album, Kingsbery ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jason Falkner
Jason Falkner (born June 2, 1968) is an American songwriter, musician, and guitarist who was a member of the bands Jellyfish, the Three O'Clock, and the Grays. Since 1996, he has released six solo albums, starting with '' Presents Author Unknown''. He is also a session musician and producer who has contributed to dozens of recordings by other bands and musicians as well as a touring bassist with the French duo Air, and more recently as the touring guitarist with Beck for decades. Early bands Falkner joined the Three O'Clock, as a guitarist (and composer of one song) on their final album '' Vermillion'', released in 1988 on Prince's Paisley Park Records label. However, the band broke up shortly afterwards." Afterward, Falkner's friend Roger Manning convinced him to move to San Francisco to join his new band, Jellyfish. The band's 1990 debut album, '' Bellybutton'', was a minor chart success and received some radio and MTV play. Falkner, however, had a number of disputes, mostl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Mellencamp
John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrumentation. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, followed by an induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018. Mellencamp found success in the 1980s starting in 1982, with a string of top 10 singles, including "Hurts So Good", "Jack & Diane", "Crumblin' Down", "Pink Houses", "Lonely Ol' Night", "Small Town", "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.", "Paper in Fire", and "Cherry Bomb (John Mellencamp song), Cherry Bomb". He has scored fourteen top 20 hits in the United States. In addition, he holds the record for the most songs by a solo artist to hit number one on the Mainstream Rock (chart), Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, with seven. Mellencamp has been nominated for 13 Grammy Awards, winning one. He has sold over 60 million albums ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alice Cooper
Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, Cooper is considered by music journalists and peers to be "The Godfather of Shock Rock". He has drawn from horror films, vaudeville, and garage rock to pioneer a macabre and theatrical brand of rock designed to shock audiences. Originating in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1964, Alice Cooper was originally a band consisting of Furnier, guitarists Glen Buxton and Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway, and drummer Neal Smith. The band released seven albums from 1969 to 1973 and broke up in 1975. Having legally changed his name to Alice Cooper, Furnier began a solo career that year with the concept album '' Welcome to My Nightmare''. During his career he has sold over 50 million records. Cooper has experimented with various musical styles, ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joel Whitburn
Joel Carver Whitburn (November 29, 1939 – June 14, 2022) was an American author and music historian, responsible for setting up the Record Research, Inc. series of books on record chart placings. Early life Joel Carver Whitburn was born in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, on November 29, 1939."Joel (Carver) Whitburn". '' Contemporary Authors''. Detroit: Gale. 2002. He started collecting records in his teens, first subscribed to '' Billboard'' in 1953, and when the Hot 100 was introduced in 1958 started recording the chart placings of records on index cards. After graduating from Menomonee Falls High School in 1957, he attended Elmhurst College and the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, but did not receive a degree from either institution. Career Whitburn worked on record distribution for RCA in the mid 1960s, using his chart statistics to inform radio stations, before founding his own company, Record Research, Inc., in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, in 1970. He put together a tea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cashbox (magazine)
''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online magazine with weekly charts and occasional special print issues. In addition to the music industry, the magazine covered the amusement arcade industry, including jukebox machines and arcade games. History Print edition charts (1942–1996) ''Cashbox'' was one of several magazines that published record charts in the United States. Its most prominent competitors were '' Billboard'' and '' Record World'' (known as ''Music Vendor'' prior to April 1964). Unlike ''Billboard'', ''Cashbox'' combined all currently available recordings of a song into one chart position with artist and label information shown for each version, alphabetized by label. Originally, no indication of which version was the biggest seller was given, but from October 25, 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billboard (magazine)
''Billboard'' (stylized in letter case, lowercase since 2013) is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events and styles related to the music industry. Its Billboard charts, music charts include the Billboard Hot 100, Hot 100, the Billboard 200, 200, and the Billboard Global 200, Global 200, tracking the most popular albums and songs in various music genres. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm and operates several television shows. ''Billboard'' was founded in 1894 by William Donaldson and James Hennegan as a trade publication for bill posters. Donaldson acquired Hennegan's interest in 1900 for $500. In the early years of the 20th century, it covered the entertainment industry, such as circuses, fairs and burlesque shows, and also created a mail service for travelling entertainers. ''Billboard'' began focusing more on the music industry as the jukebox ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Finn (singer)
Thomas Joseph Finn (November 21, 1948 – June 27, 2020) was an American musician and DJ. He was a founding member of the 1960s baroque pop group The Left Banke, on bass and vocals. Musical career At age sixteen, Finn was a founder member of The Left Banke in Manhattan, New York City in 1965, alongside Michael Brown, Steve Martin, George Cameron and Lisa David-Schierhorst. The members of the group were all members of other groups, but were put together by Harry Lookofsky, a jazz violinist who was the father to Michael Lookofsky, known as Michael Brown, who was the band's keyboardist. After initial success with the songs " Walk Away Renée" and "Pretty Ballerina", the group split up, though Finn was involved in later reformations of the band. "Walk Away Renée", along with many other songs released by the Left Banke, were inspired by Renée Fladen-Kamm, who at the time was Finn's girlfriend. After the Left Banke disbanded, Finn went on to become an engineer at Bell Sound ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Renée Fladen-Kamm
Renée A. Fladen (born 3 August 1948, New York City), also known as Renée Fladen-Kamm, is an American singer and vocal coach. Among her recordings are those of medieval music as vocal director of the San Francisco-based Sherwood Consort. She also worked on the musical direction of theatrical works directed by Mary Devlin, another member of the Sherwood Consort. Personal life In the 1960s, Fladen was in a relationship with Tom Finn, bass guitarist for The Left Banke. Fladen is said to have been the inspiration of the Left Banke songs " Walk Away Renée" (1966), "Pretty Ballerina" (1966)Rhonda Markowitz ''The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Rock History'' Page 203 - 2006 "One fateful day, so the story goes, Finn brought his blonde girlfriend, an aspiring ballerina named Renee Fladen, to band practice. Brown fell instantly in love and incorporated his fantasy crush into the song "Walk Away Renee", and "She May Call You Up Tonight" (1967). Fladen married Howard I. Kamm (born 1946) i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve Martin Caro
The Left Banke was an American baroque pop band, formed in New York City in 1965. They are best remembered for their two U.S. hit singles, " Walk Away Renée" and " Pretty Ballerina". The band often used what the music press referred to as "baroque" string arrangements, which led to their music being variously termed as "Bach-rock", "baroque rock" or "baroque pop". The band's vocal harmonies borrowed from contemporaries such as the Beatles, the Zombies and other British Invasion groups. In 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' placed "Walk Away Renée" at number 220 in its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". History 1965–69: early years and disbandment The Left Banke was formed in 1965 and consisted of keyboard player/songwriter Michael Brown, drummer/singer George Cameron, bass guitarist/singer Tom Finn, singer Steve Martin (later known as Steve Martin Caro), and drummer Lisa (then known as Warren) David-Schierhorst. The band formed among the world of session musicians in midt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
